U.S. Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota said Thursday she won’t seek reelection in 2026, a decision that has set off a scramble by potential candidates in both major political parties to fill her open seat.
Several Democrats said they would run or quickly signaled their interest, including Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Secretary of State Steve Simon.
Smith’s retirement will deprive Democrats of an incumbent as they try to recruit candidates for races in states that will likely be tougher for them to win.
Smith said she plans to use the two years left in her term working to represent Minnesota’s interests in the Senate without having to worry about running for reelection. But she also said there are Democratic leaders who are ready to step up.
Pope Francis was hospitalized Friday to treat a weeklong bout of bronchitis and undergo diagnostic tests, the Vatican said, confirming the latest issues with the 88-year-old’s pontiff’s health that forced him to cancel his agenda through Monday at least.
Francis has complained of breathing trouble and was diagnosed with bronchitis Feb. 6, but had continued to hold daily audiences in his Vatican hotel suite. He had presided at an outdoor Mass on Sunday and attended his general audience Wednesday. But he has been handing off his speeches for an aide to read aloud, saying he was having trouble breathing.
Francis is being treated at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he was last admitted in June 2023 to have surgery to remove intestinal scar tissue and repair a hernia in the abdominal wall.
No details were given about the duration of Francis’ hospitalization, but the Vatican later announced the pope was canceling his participation in Holy Year events through Monday.
A drone armed with a warhead hit the protective outer shell of Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear plant early Friday, punching a hole in the structure and briefly starting a fire, in an attack Kyiv blamed on Russia. The Kremlin denied it was responsible.
Radiation levels at the shuttered plant in the Kyiv region — site of the world’s worst nuclear accident — have not increased, according to the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, which said the strike did not breach the plant’s inner containment shell.
The IAEA did not attribute blame, saying only that its team stationed at the site heard an explosion and was informed that a drone had struck the shell.
Sumaii Gemechu can be reached at geme9653@stthomas.edu
